Perk Not Returning Until February?

During Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Kendrick Perkins suffered a nasty injury to his right knee.  At the time, the exact injury diagnosis was relatively cloudy.  First it was a torn PCL and MCL.  Then the ACL got added to the tally of torn ligaments.  The next thing we all knew was that Perk was on the phone with Shaun Livingston asking him for rehabilitation advice.

Thanks to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com for asking GM Danny Ainge and shedding some light on the issue.  In his post from a few days ago, Forsberg got Ainge to say it was mainly a torn ACL with unknown damage to the PCL and MCL.  This news is very important because if Perk tore all three it would be likely that he would be a shell of himself IF he returned at all for the 2010-2011 season.

The new targeted return date may not be until February now.  Judging by how the Celtics deal with bringing players back (and how effective Jermaine O’Neal plays until then) we may not see Perk return until the annual west coast trip after the all-star break.

During the Celtics summer league game last week against the Charlotte Bobcats, NBATV analyst Steve Smith asked Ainge about Perk’s status, and he revealed that Perk might not be back until February.  Realistically, fans shouldn’t expect to see Perk back until after the all-star game.  Check out the video below:    

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3XPysp6enc&w=449&h=340]